Borderline Personality Disorder Causes

Like most other mental disorders, BPD has no one specific cause but tends to have a number of biological, psychological, and social contributing factors. Biological risk factors for BPD include a family history of this diagnosis, substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, impulsivity, or mood instability. Many consequences of being the victim of childhood abuse can be features of BPD. Specifically, childhood abuse can result in the sufferer having difficulty regulating their own emotions, a tendency to harm oneself, and problems forming healthy bonds with others. Other symptoms that childhood abuse victims and individuals with BPD have in common may include trouble understanding their thoughts and feelings and those of others, having an unstable self-image, trouble expressing both positive and negative feelings, and having trouble understanding and managing their feelings about themselves and others, also called splitting.

Although a history of being the victim of child abuse (for example, physical, sexual, or emotional) is a psychological risk factor for BPD, it is also a contributing factor for a number of other emotional problems. Socially, being part of what is considered to be a modern or rapidly changing culture is thought to be associated with the development of BPD as well.